Episode Title: Errand of Mercy
Air Date: 3/23/1967
Written by Gene L.
Coon
Directed by John
Newland
Cast: William
Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Lieutenant Commander Spock DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H.
McCoy AKA “Bones” George
Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Victor Lundin as unnamed Lieutenant Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie Bill Blackburn as Organian villager Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant
Brent and Organian villager Ron Veto as Lieutenant
Harrison and Organian villager John Abbott as Ayelborne John Colicos as Commander Kor Peter
Brocco as Claymare David Hillary Hughes as Trefayne Walt Davis as unnamed Klingon Soldier George Sawaya as unnamed Klingon
Soldier Bobby Bass as
unnamed Klingon Guard Gary
Combs as unnamed Klingon Guard Basil Poledouris as unnamed Klingon Soldier Paul Power as unnamed Organian Elder
Ships: USS Enterprise
NCC-1701, numerous K't'inga-class
Planets: Organia
My Spoiler filled
summary and review: The episode begins with the crew of the Enterprise getting some disturbing
news. The bothersome news is this peace
talks between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire have
broken down. The Federation is headed
for war. Their peaceful five-year
mission to explore the universe is going to have to be put on hold as the Enterprise is going to be needed for
battles that Starfleet will be fighting against the Klingon Imperial forces.
The war for the crew of the Enterprise quickly becomes a reality
when out of the blue they are attacked by Klingon war ship. Captain Kirk’s quick thinking and calm under
pressure helps lead the Enterprise
the victory by returning fire in a dispersal pattern that both both hits and
ultimately destroys his adversary.
After their kill is confirmed, they proceed with orders that came from Starfleet for the Enterprise to go to the small planet of Organia. The planet is in a strategic location for
both sides. Whatever side claims it will
be building a base and operating the conflict from there.
When they arrive at Organia Kirk
and Spock prepare to go down to the planet and try to make contact with local authorities. Since Scotty has apparently chosen a very
inconvenient time to take a vacation, Captain Kirk places Lt. Sulu in command
of the Enterprise until they
return. The Captain orders the Lieutenant that if the
ship is in danger he is to retreat and rejoin the fleet. Under no circumstances is he to wait for the
two of them to return. Sulu wants to
protest but Kirk has him standby his orders.
 |
| Ayelborne greats Kirk and Spock |
Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet’s
surface and not one of the locals seems to react to the fact that two people
have just materialize out of thin air. They
are greeted by a man named Ayelborne.
Kirk asks if he can see their leader to which Ayelborne responds by
saying they actually don’t have anything called a “leader” but he is the
chairman of the Council of Elders and he would be glad to help them. Ayelborne takes Kirk to the Council and Mr.
Spock asked to be left behind so he can do some observations.
In his meeting with the Council of
Elders Kirk explains the situation with the Klingons and informs them of the
Klingons pending arrival here to their planet.
Kirk lays out that unless they act fast and side with the Federation that
they will be under the rule of the Klingon Empire. The Council is very unimpressed they seem to
think Kirk is trying to say that they have a choice of siding either with the
Federation or the Federation’s enemies.
Kirk points out that the Federation will give them a choice but the
Klingons won’t and he seen planets ruled by Klingons and he would not want that
fate to be suffered by the poor people of Organia. The Council follows by this telling Kirk that
they don’t like any sort of violence and they don’t want to be caught up in
this war. They tell him that Organia is
not in danger and there’s nothing there that the Klingons would want
anyway. Kirk points out the Klingons
want the entire planet and unless the Council acts they may get it.
 |
| A Council that is not concerned |
Spock returns and informs Captain
Kirk that based on his observations the Organian culture is entirely
stagnant and is not advanced at all in about 10,000 years. It is the most stagnant culture the he’s ever
seen. Kirk tries to use this knowledge
to let the Council know that the Federation attends to share their advancement
with the people of Organia. Kirk offers
schools, technology, and freedom from such threats as hunger. The Council is not impressed in the least bit
with Kirk’s proposal and while Kirk’s been talking to them the Klingons
arrived.
Kirk gets a call from Sulu on the Enterprise that the Klingon fleet has
arrived and the ship is outgunned twenty to one. Following his earlier orders Lt. Sulu
hightails the Enterprise out of
there. One of the Council members
proclaims that there are a hundred Klingons with arms who are now outside their
city. Kirk and Spock would very much
like to know how they are aware of this but the more pressing issue is safety
of the two Starfleet officers. Ayelborne
decides to help disguise them as local traders.
The funny thing about their disguises is Kirk and Spock are still
wearing their traditional Starfleet colors.
Kirk is still dressed up in command gold while Mr. Spock is sporting
science blue.
 |
| Different clothes but the right colors |
The Klingon army arrives and with
its commander the audience of Star Trek
gets to meet its first Klingon. His name
is Kor, and the 'o' is long. Kor announces that he is now the military
governor of this planet and they must all obey him. He hands them a list of rules which must be
followed whose violation means death. The
Council lets Kor know that they are down with obeying and will gladly follow
all his rules. Kor has the expression of
a man who was playing tug-of-war with an opponent who had just let
go. The only one who doesn’t back down
to Kor is Kirk in his identity as an Organian merchant. Kor sees a “ram among the sheep” because
apparently there are rams and sheep in the Klingon Empire. Kor appoints Kirk his emissary with the
Organians. However he does not accept
Spock as a simple merchant as he is a Vulcan.
He announces that he will take Spock and use their weapon known as a
“mind sifter” that can probe a mind and peel away secrets but will cause
lasting cerebral damage.
 |
| Commander Kor |
Spock returns completely unharmed
however. He informs the Captain that the
Klingons’ weapon is in fact real and very dangerous but given his mental
abilities he was able to overcome it and convince the Klingons he is who he
says he is. Kirk is please that Spock is
alright but he can’t just sit by and watch the Klingons take advantage of the
helpless Organians so they engage in some sabotage and destroy the Klingons’ munitions
dump.
Far from being appreciative of
Kirk’s efforts the Organians are extremely annoyed at the Captain for employing
violence on their behalf. Kirk tries to
plead with them he tells them that military dictatorships have been over thrown
before. If they organize into a
resistance they can get the Klingons off their planet. The Organians couldn’t seem to care less
about that. It turns out the whole
conversation is being monitored by Kor himself.
Kor enters the Council’s chambers to arrest Kirk and Spock. Kor is eager to use the mind sifter on Kirk
to find out his identity but it turns out he doesn’t even need to for Ayelborne
goes ahead and tells them. Kor is
excited and as a small way a tad bit disappointed. He’d always want to face Captain Kirk in open
combat in space. Nevertheless is pleased
to have him as his prisoner.
 |
| Captured by Kor |
Kor has the two Starfleet officers
locked up but before he puts Kirk away he decides he wants to have a drink with
him first. Since Kor is going to be
forced to execute him he might want to take advantage of is one opportunity to
talk to his famous adversary. The
conversation between Kirk and Kor is an interesting one. Kor complements Kirk on how difficult his
operation here now is with his sabotage.
Kor tells Kirk that he has managed to slow them down but they won’t be
stopped. It is also clear that they both
find the Organians revolting for the same reasons but from different
angles. They both would prefer the Organians
fight, Kor because he wants to crush them and Kirk because he wants to see them
overthrow the Klingons. Kor then sends
Kirk to be was Spock and await their fate.
 |
| Commander with his second |
They don’t have to wait long however as they
sits in a dungeon trying desperately to think of some form of escape, they are
unexpectedly freed by Ayelborne. Who
says he refuses to see the Klingons do violence to them. Kirk and Spock are bit surprised to see that
the Organians with their limited resources are somehow able to sneak past Klingon
guards and free them however they do not argue with it. When Kor hears of their escape at first he
cannot believe it but once he accepts it he orders one of their ships in orbit
to fire its weapons at the surface the planet targeting the settlement. This results in the apparent death of two
hundred Organians.
Kirk and Spock regain their weapons
from the Organians and decide to take the fight to Kor himself. Facing astronomical odds that nevertheless
keep improving as they keep going, Kirk and Spock break into Kor’s headquarters
and capture him. With Kor as their
prisoner, they learned that the Enterprise
has returned with the fleet and the two space fleets are about to go into
battle. Simultaneously Kor’s security
team has shown up to try to free him.
It is at this point that the Organians
have seen enough and they decide to end this.
All of a sudden the Federation’s phasers and the Klingons disruptors are
literally too hot to handle. Neither Kor
and his men nor Kirk and Spock are able to hold onto their weapons. On board the Enterprise officers on the bridge can no longer remain at their
stations. When the two Starfleet
officers and the Klingons try to go at each other directly they find they are
repelled.
Ayelborne arrives and it turns out
the Organians are a lot tougher than anyone could’ve possibly imagined. Their appearance is simple folk is simply a
ruse to give outsiders a frame of reference when interacting with them and to
make them appear uninteresting so the outsiders will go away. They are however very advanced beings of pure
energy and have a great deal of power. No
one died when Kor attacked; they just made it appear as though there were
causalities. It is they who disabled the
great space fleets above and as Ayelborne address them here he was also
simultaneously on Earth and on Kronos giving them both the same message. Typically the Organians hate to interfere
with outsiders. However seeing as they
have come to their planet and are engaged in the most vile thing they can think
of which is violence the two sides have forced their hand. They are not going to permit the Federation
and the Klingon Empire to fight.
 |
| The truth! |
Kirk and Kor simultaneously protest
demanding what right the Organians have to dictate their affairs. Kirk and Kor then go into what each doesn’t
like about the other one and the claims that each side has against each
other. This is to no avail the Federation
and the Klingons are going to have to go back to the negotiating table.
 |
| Two men very confused. |
With that Kirk and Kor have their
goodbye since the Organians won’t let them fight to which Kor says “it would
have been glorious.”
Additional
thoughts: This was a great episode; however he does seem a bit
repetitive. The story is very similar
to “The Arena.” In both episodes the
Federation becomes involved in a conflict with a deadly enemy. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise engage in battle with said
enemy, allowing the viewer to see what a great space tactician Captain Kirk is,
in both episodes. We later learn that
both adversaries have some legitimate grievances. Once again a greater power puts an end to
the conflict.
There are differences as well for
one unlike the Metrons, the Organians aren’t complete hypocrites. The Organians live to and adhere by a code to
which they only enforce onto others if those others come to their planet and
act in violence. The Metrons on the
other hand also claim to hate violence and when they see it tried they impose
their own violence upon it. Also in the
story the two commanders are not pitted against each other in single combat,
although Kor might have liked that.
So we finally get to meet the
Klingons, I am very glad it is weird to have a Star Trek blog and not to have a single reference of the Klingons. The Klingons became recognized as the primary
villain of the classical series and is one of the few Star Trek aliens that have impacted real-world culture to the point
that non-Star Trek fans know what
they are. Another example of that would
be the Vulcans, simply for being Mr. Spock’s people. The Klingons have a reputation for violence
so it is somewhat amusing that in the first appearance they are humbled with
their adversaries by a far greater power.
Then we have the original Klingon
himself: Commander Kor. What a
character he is and what a great foundation that he lays! He does an amazing job capturing and defining
the Klingon spirit. John Colicos who
plays him is one of those guest stars who helped build a great legacy for the
show. With Kor you see a mix of passion
and duty. Kor loves and relishes combat
particularly space battles. He despises
being a military governor yet he does his duty without a moment’s hesitation
because his honor demands it.
I really enjoyed the scenes between Kor and
Kirk. You really see the respect Kor has
for his adversary, which helps the fan understand Kirk’s reputation outside his
immediate family on the Enterprise. I think gives Star Trek fans pleasure to know that Kirk is a legend in his own
time and well-respected not just among his peers but among those who rival
the Federation as well. It is also
apparent that, although he tries to hide it, I think Kirk appreciates Kor as
well. When Ayelborne tells him that one
day the Federation and the Klingons would be friends and they would help each
other, Kor and Kirk rejected that idea.
Yet, moments later Kor started to propose an alliance with Kirk against
the Organians before they learned the full extent of their power.
Long live the Klingons and the
Klingon Empire!
FINAL GRADE 5 of 5
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